Rep. Dallman’s Financial Literacy Bill Passes State Assembly

 Madison, WI --- State Representative Alex Dallman (R-Green Lake) voted in favor of his bill, Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109), which requires one-half credit personal financial literacy for high school graduation. AB 109 garnered near-unanimous support, passing the Wisconsin State Assembly this afternoon 95-1. AB 109 has received broad bipartisan support, receiving nearly 60 co-sponsorships from state representatives and senators.

This bill states that, in order to graduate, a student must also earn at least one-half credit of personal financial literacy that includes financial mindset, education and employment, saving and investing, credit and debt, and risk management and insurance. This bill will teach students the importance of growing their savings, balancing a budget, and how loans and other financial tools work.

“Recent surveys have shown that 78% of adults are living paycheck to paycheck and do not have a personal budget. Instead of sending our next generation out into the real world without any knowledge of how to save, manage, and invest money, we must require this sort of education to start in high school,” said Representative Dallman.

The number of states requiring all high school students to take a stand-alone personal finance course in order to graduate has grown from eight states in 2020 to twenty states today.

“There is no better gift than that of financial independence which we can give to our next generation. I am proud to see my bipartisan bill pass out of the Assembly, which puts us one step closer to ensuring our students have the skills they need to succeed. I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law.”

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State Representative Alex Dallman was re-elected in November 2022 to serve a second term for Wisconsin's 41st Assembly District which includes parts of Green Lake, Marquette, Adams, Columbia, Sauk, and Waushara counties. Representative Dallman currently serves as a member of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance.